The effect of oral drugs on the cytologic picture of nasal mucosa in hay fever.

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to assess the influence of H1-antihistamine and sympathomimetic drugs given orally on cytologic smears of the nasal mucosa. Thirty-five patients with hay fever evaluated cytologic smears of the nasal mucosa before and after a 2-week treatment. Fourteen patients received chlorpheniramine with phenylephrine, 10 patients dexchlorpheniramine, and 11 patients pseudoephedrine. The investigated drugs significantly changed nasal cytograms. The number of eosinophils increased after chlorpheniramine with phenylephrine and after pseudoephedrine but decreased after dexchlorpheniramine. Thus, the sympathetic nervous system stimulation seems to produce local eosinophilia on the nasal mucosa. In view of such a significant correlation between hay fever symptoms and the number of eosinophils in the cytograms, it can be concluded that the combination of antihistamine and sympathomimetic drugs may adversely affect the course of the disease. Although, at the initial stage of the treatment, sympathomimetics reduce swelling and improve the patency of the nose through decongestion of the blood vessels, their negative effect can influence the immunologic mechanisms.